competitors during the presidential race, border security yes, tariffs no. mexico is the third-largest trading partner with the u.s. a huge barrier to economic growth. following up with this, simply put, any proceeds proposal which drives up the cost of corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea. mucho sad. that is from senator lindsey graham in south carolina. republicans in the house and senate have been meeting in philadelphia for the past few days. they wrap up their meetings tomorrow. president trump spoke to the group today, talking about his goals on trade, immigration, and other issues. he said he expects congress to be busier than it has been in decades. here's a look at his comments.

>> please welcome, to introduce our special guest, the majority leader of the senate, mitch mcconnell. [applause] senator mcconnell: not many americans know this, but at the beginning of our country, the presidents were all part of the establishment. for 40 years, from washington to john quincy adams, and then andrew jackson came along. he was the voice of the people. and regular people sent this new president to the oval office, to the white house, and he made history by serving two terms and changing america.

my first visit to our new president in the oval office today, i looked behind his desk and there was a sculpture of andrew johnson. how appropriate. join me in welcoming the next president who will make history and turn america around, donald trump. [applause] president trump: thank you very much, mitch. so nice. thank you. thank you very much. [applause] president trump: thank you. thank you. so nice. nice to win. do we agree?

it's been a while. it's been a while since we've had this position. nice to win. i want to thank so many friends in the room. sit down, everybody. let's enjoy ourselves. it is great to be in philadelphia. i went to school in philadelphia. this is a very special place in our nations history. the place where we launched our american independence. the state of pennsylvania is very special to me for lots of reasons. especially from a couple of months ago. remember? pennsylvania cannot be won. remember? pennsylvania cannot be won. there is no path to victory for trump in pennsylvania. except, we won. it has been a long time since you guys did this. it was a great victory, a great evening.

it sort of started in pennsylvania. they all said that pennsylvania was the bride that got away. it was the state that everybody from the republican party that ran in pennsylvania for 38 years thought they won. i thought i had won, too, but i was afraid to say. i said i think we did great but let's see what happens. i love this state and we will see it many times again. now is the dawn of a new era. of american independence, a rededication to the idea that the people are in charge of their own destiny. i want to thank majority leader mcconnell, great guy, and speaker paul ryan, very, very special. he is writing his heart out and we are actually going to sign the stuff you are writing.

you are not wasting your time. [applause] president trump: he went right and he would send it up and nothing would happen. but now, it is going to happen. for the leadership and for inviting me here today, thank you very much. and thank you, leader mccarthy, senator cornyn, congressman scalise, congresswoman cathy mcmorris rodgers and congressman messer for your leadership as well. it has been terrific. this congress is going to be the busiest congress we have had in decades, maybe ever. think of that. think of everything we can achieve and remember who we must achieve it for. we are here now because tens of millions of americans have placed their hopes in us to

transfer power from washington, d.c. and give it back to the people. so important. now, we have to deliver -- enough all talk, no action. we have to deliver. this is our chance to achieve great and lasting change for our beloved nation. since taking office, i have taken major contractual steps to restore the rule of law and to return power to everyday americans. [applause] president trump: even though it is only a few days, we have done it in record numbers. we have issued executive orders to build the keystone and dakota pipelines. [applause]

president trump: and issued a new requirement for american pipelines to be made with american steel and fabricated in the united states. [applause] president trump: i was sitting at my desk and i'm getting ready to sign keystone and dakota and i said, where is the pipe coming from? i will not tell you where, but you wouldn't be happy. why is it that we build pipelines and we are not using pipe made in our country? let's put that little clause in. that will attract a lot of people and we will make that pipe right here in america. ok? [applause] president trump: if people want to build pipelines on our land, we want the pipe to be manufactured here. you will see a level of quality you are not going to see when they bring pipe from far distances, have to bring it in

small chunks and then fabricate it on the land. give me a break. we can do much better than that and we will do it much better and it will end up costing less money, believe me. we have reinstated the mexico city policy, a long-standing policy -- [applause] president trump: isn't that nice? by the way, on friday, a lot of people will be showing up to washington. right, mike? the press never gives them the credit that they deserve. they will have 500,000, 600,000 people. you won't even read about it. when other people show up, you read big-time about it.

right? it's not fair, but nothing fair about the media. [laughter] [applause] president trump: long-standing policy to ensure taxpayer dollars do not fund abortion services overseas. [applause] president trump: we have issued executive orders to remove wasteful regulations that slow down commerce and delay infrastructure which we desperately need. the very beginning of a massive effort to reduce the crushing regulations on our economy. and we are going to reduce regulations big-time. [applause] president trump: we have also withdrawn from the transpacific partnership, paving the way for new one-on-one trade deals that protect and defend the american worker and we will have a lot of trade deals -- mitch, don't worry about it.

but they will be one-on-one. they will not be whole big mashed pot. they will be one-on-one deals. if that particular country does not treat us fairly, we send them a 30 day notice of termination and they will come and say please do not do that and we will negotiate a better deal. the other way, you cannot get out of it. we will have very strong controls over monetary manipulation and devaluation, which they didn't have in tpp. we would like to have wilbur ross approved as soon as possible. mitch says it will be done and it will be. they could move faster on the other side. i will say that.

[applause] president trump: i'm meeting with the prime minister tomorrow, as you know. great britain. i'm meeting with her tomorrow. i don't have my commerce secretary. i will have to handle it myself. [laughter] [applause] president trump: which is ok. we have put in place the first steps in our immigration plan, ordering the immediate construction of the border wall end to catch and release, expediting the removal of -- this is so important to me. from day one, i've said it, the immediate removal of criminal aliens. they will be gone, fast. finally, at long last, cracking down on sanctuary cities. [applause]

president trump: it is time to restore the civil rights of americans to protect their jobs, their hopes and their dreams for a much better future. congress passed these laws to serve our citizens and it's about time those laws were properly enforced. they are not enforced. [applause] president trump: the hour of justice for the american worker has arrived. border security is a serious, serious national issue and problem. a lack of security poses a substantial threat to the sovereignty and safety of the united states of america and its citizens. most illegal immigration is coming from our southern border. i've said many times that the american people will not pay for the wall. i have made that clear to the

government of mexico. nafta has been a terrible deal, a total disaster for the united states, costing us as much as $60 billion a year with mexico alone in trade deficits. who negotiates these deals? not to mention, millions of jobs and thousands and thousands of factories and plants closing down all over our country. on top of that, the trillions of dollars u.s. taxpayers have spent to pay the costs of illegal immigration. much of it goes back to other countries and oftentimes because they don't respect us, the other countries will not accept the criminals that we send back to

them that are illegally in our country. they will start accepting them again, quickly. we will not have them any longer. i will not allow the taxpayers or the citizens of the united states to pay the costs of this defective transaction, nafta. one that should have been renegotiated many years ago except the politicians were too preoccupied to do so. these people are not in that category. this is a different group. i think. right? the president of mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting scheduled for next week unless mexico is going to treat the united states fairly with respect. such a meeting would be fruitless and i want to go in a different route. we have no choice. paul ryan and other leaders in

congress and i and mike pence -- how good a choice was vice president mike pence? stand up. [applause] president trump: everybody loves him. [applause] president trump: any time i got myself into a jam early, often times, they would say on television, yeah, but look, he picked mike pence. he has to have something going, right? we are working on a tax reform bill that will reduce our trade deficits, increase american exports and will generate revenue from mexico that will pay for the wall if we decide to go that route. it is time that the american people have a president fighting his hardest for citizens as

other countries do for theirs. that is exactly what i'm going to do for you. believe me. [applause] president trump: thank you. it's time that somebody thought for our country and did not let anyone take advantage of us anymore. the world has taken advantage of us for many years. not going to happen anymore. we will have an ambitious legislative agenda as well. our legislative work starts with repealing and replacing obamacare. and saving families from the catastrophic rise in premiums and debilitating loss of choice and just about everything else. obamacare is a disaster. the democrats are putting up signs like it's wonderful.

it's a disaster. i talked with paul and the group about just doing nothing for two years and the dems would come begging to do something because 17 is going to be catastrophic price increases, your deductibles through the roof, you cannot use it. they would come to us -- we have to take care of the american people immediately. we cannot wait. every time they tell you about obamacare, we are taking them out of a big jam. we are putting ourselves at risk, to a certain extent. we are taking it off their platter. i think we have no choice. we have to get it going. if we waited two years, it would explode like you never seen an explosion. nobody will be able to afford it, it is a disaster.

that is politically what we should do, but we don't want to do that. we need to get something done right. tom price will do a phenomenal job. he will do a phenomenal job. on my first day in office, i signed an executive order to roll back the burdens of obamacare and paved the way for real reform like health savings accounts that empower individuals to choose a customized plan that is truly right for them. tom price will soon be leaving ding health and human services. he is the true advocate for patients. he will do a phenomenal job. we have no doubt about that. he joins an all-star roster that includes many of your colleagues ryan's inky, mick mulvaney -- these guys have had a pretty

tough time in congress too. mike pompeo, is mike here? phenomenal guy. and jeff sessions. jeff is a fine person. jeff was one of my earliest endorsers. never endorsed a presidential candidate before. respected by everybody. did unbelievably in front of committee. in addition to fixing our health care, we are going to pursue new trade deals that create higher wages and more opportunities for american workers, bringing back this magnificent words, "made in usa." we used to have that. it will be america first again. we will create millions of new, good paying jobs by removing the economic burdens that cripple our ability to compete. at the center of that agenda is bold tax reform that lowers taxes for middle-class and for

all american businesses. we will also pursue financial reform that will help striving americans get the credit they need to realize their dreams. republicans have always been the party of american industry and the american worker. we must embrace that heritage. rebuilding this country with american goods and american labor and we started, believe me, over the last couple months -- i was like to say i did about as much as anybody or more in terms of getting industry to start coming back to our country before i took office. we have a lot of great news with ford and general motors and fiat chrysler. lockheed is adding a lot of additional people. boeing -- we have a lot of positive things happening and it's really going to start bursting.

we want to get our people off of welfare and back to work. so important. it's out of control. we believe the world's best country ought to have the world's best infrastructure. it is what our people deserve and it is what we will ensure they get. our infrastructure is in serious trouble. we will build new roads and highways and tunnels and airports and railways across the nation. we will fix our existing product before we build anything brand-new. we have to fix what we have. we will fix it first. we have a lot of things that are in bad shape. we will rebuild our military to take care of our great veterans. [applause]

president trump: thank you. we are working hard with the veterans and we will do something very special with the veterans. it is time. at the same time, we will unleash the full power of american energy, ending the job killing restrictions on shale, oil, natural gas, and clean, beautiful coal. we will put our coal miners back to work. [applause] president trump: and we will protect our farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers and all who enjoy the outdoors. but to be a rich country, we must also be a safe country. right now, too many families don't feel secure.

just look at the 30 largest cities. the murder rate has increased by 14%. here in philadelphia, the murder rate has been steadyily increasing. look at chicago. what's going on in chicago? i said it the other day, what the hell is going on? >> democrats! [laughter] president trump: that is why we will continue to stand with the incredible men and women of law enforcement. [applause] president trump: yesterday, i had the honor of swearing in general john kelly as our secretary of homeland security.

he is going to be amazing. tomorrow, i will swear in general james mattis as our new secretary of defense. [applause] president trump: these men have devoted their lives to defending america and now, i look forward to working with them along with our great new head of the cia. we have so many different people that we are putting in office, i think it is the group of all-stars like nobody has seen before. where is pompeo? where the hell is he? he's working? he is going to be another one of the big stars. i have to mention him every single time. one of you. [applause] president trump: with you in congress to keep our country

safe from the many threats we face today, that includes protecting americans from radical islamic terrorism. [applause] president trump: we also need to keep the ballot box safe from illegal voting. believe me, take a look at what is registering, folks -- take a look at what is registering. we will protect the integrity of the ballot box and we are going to defend the votes of the american citizen. all of us here today for the same reasons, to serve the citizens of our country. we are not here for ourselves, we are here for them. we are here for the people. we are blessed by divinity and honored by history with the task

of preserving this great republic and expanding its blessings to every single american. [applause] president trump: thank you. all of us are joined in this effort. all of us are bound by duty and bound by god to give powerful devotion to this country and its people. that obligation form the moral foundation of our agenda. that agenda includes a lean, efficient government. appointing supreme court justices. so important. who will uphold and defend our constitution. reducing taxation and regulation. fair trade that creates a level playing field as opposed to what we have right now. and fostering respect for our country and its flag.

we are now only at the beginning of this incredible journey together. i am honored to be your partner in this amazing quest. i am privileged to stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, as we work every single day to make america great again. thank you. god bless you and god bless america. it is a great honor to be here. thank you. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]